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                      HOW TO BUILD ON VOREGOTTEN REALM
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You have a few choices to build and link your own rooms on Voregotten Realm.
You may:
 
- use the pre-built areas (for example, on the Island: the Tavern, the Caves,
  and the Sea Caves - On the Land: the Vore's Inn and the Caves): just go into
  one of these areas and read the room description which will tell you how to
  check for vacancy and how to reserve a room (*).
- use the 'settle-here' command: this command allows you to create and link a
  room in most of the outdoor areas of the MUCK (if you can't settle in a given
  area, 'settle-here' will tell you). It is particularly easy to use and fool
  proofed :-P  (*).
  Just go to the place where you would like to settle, type 'settle-here', and
  reply the three prompts... that's it, you are setup !
- do it the "hard" way, by digging (@dig) your room yourself and asking a
  wizard or builder helpstaff member (type 'wizzes' for info about them) to
  link it on the MUCK (*).
 
Once you got a room linked on one of the MUCK playing areas, you may enter it,
edit it (use 'editroom') and even create and link new rooms to this "root"
room (there is no quota on VR, but @digging rooms and @opening exits still
cost some "amethysts"...).

(*) if you play a slave in the Slavers' Island, you cannot get a room linked or
reserved directly on the grid: you are still allowed to build OOCly, but you
must get your owner to link your room to their own room/area. Remember that
ICly, a slave can't own anything but what their owner gives them.
 
Building restrictions:
 
There is only one, but it is strictly enforced: whenever you build a home or
create objects for use in the Voregotten Island, please keep in mind that it is
a -Medieval- setting (let's say something equivalent to 1000 AD in Europe):
modern technology, intricate mechanics (anything more complicated than a simple
clock), synthetic materials, electricity, and anything that couldn't be
handcrafted, are -strictly forbidden- on the Island.
 
Building conventions:
 
Unless you got a damned good reason to do otherwise, it is suggested that you
stick to the following conventions:
 
- All exits should have a two letters alias which doesn't conflict with any
  of the MUCK commands shortcuts. For example, if you want to open a "West"
  exit to another room, use: @open <We>st;west;we=#my_other_room
  and NOT: @open <W>est;west;w=#my_other_room
  because the "w" alias for your exit would conflict with (i.e. locally
  override) the 'w' shortcut for the 'whisper' command.
  The only exception to the "two letters alias" rule is for "Out" exits, which
  should be named "<O>ut;out;ou;o"
- Brackets should be used to highlight the shortest alias of an exit name.
  Square brackets are used when the exit leads to a room which level of privacy
  is higher than the one of the current room (for example, all exits leading
  from the main grid to a player-owned area are square-bracketted), and you may
  use square brackets inside your own area for exits leading to your private/
  intimate rooms. For rooms in which no one should enter without being invited,
  you may use the curly brackets (and setup a lock; see the "tips"). Example:
    @open <Di>ning room;dining;di=#dining_room
    @open [Gu]est room;gu=#guest_room
    @open {Be}droom;bedroom;bed;be=#bedroom
  Note that the obvious-exits.muf program paints the angle brackets in green,
  the square brackets in yellow, and the curly brackets in red, in the list of
  the exits it returns.
- There should be an "out;ou;o" alias on each exit which is on the path leading
  to the oustide of your area, so that from anywhere in your area, it is
  possible to get out of it by typing repeatedely "out".
- Your rooms name should be unique. Avoid names such as "Bedroom". Instead, use
  your character's name or your sub-area name to personalize each room name.
  Examples: "John's bedroom", "Crystal Tower - Blue bedroom". This allows to
  give useful hints of where you are when looking at the 'where' listing.
- Rooms should be parented to the adequate environment rooms. If you build a
  garden on the Voregotten Island, parent it to the $env/island_outdoors
  envroom (and not to the $env/land_indoors one...). A list of the available
  parents is given by the 'editroom' utility (option 2 of the main menu).
  Note that the outdoors envrooms got pre-defined events and global exits, such
  as the 'weather' reports event, the "fly" global exit, and the area 'map'
  (you may set the position of your outdoors in the area map, with 'map #pos').
 
Hints and tips:
 
- If you want someone to be able to 'knock' on the door of your room, set the
  exit leading into your room Kill_OK (with: '@set <exit name>=K'): this
  is done automatically in pre-built area and by 'settle-here', but needs to be
  done manually if your room was  @linked manually.
- To setup locks on your room entrances, you may use '@lksetup' from inside
  your room, or you may manually setup locks with public programs (freelock.muf
  or STClock.muf, see 'programs lock'). See also '@keys #help' for passworded
  exits.
- You can use the '@backlink' command to open easily the two exits needed to
  link two rooms you own, or a room set Link_OK with a room you own.